Missouri’s Dorial Green-Beckham is drawing comparisons to A.J. Green and Julio Jones -- big, highly recruited SEC wideouts who ended up as high first-round NFL picks. That’s not the best comparison, according to Jamie Newberg.
The national analyst for Fox Sports Net said Green-Beckham “is different because he’s so big. I don’t know if there is a comparison in the SEC. Size-wise, he’s kind of like Calvin Johnson.”
Green-Beckham is 6-6, 220 and Johnson is 6-5, 236 (now), while Green (6-4, 207) and Jones (6-3, 220) are two and three inches shorter than Green-Beckham.
Regardless, Newberg believes Green-Beckham can make the same impact those players did as college freshmen.
Here are their first-year numbers:
Johnson: 48 catches, 837 yards, 7 TDs
Green: 56 catches, 963 yards, 8 TDs
Jones: 58 catches, 924 yards, 4 TDs
The nation’s No. 1 recruit, Green-Beckham joins a potent offense led by dual-threat QB James Franklin. Expectations are immense, but Green-Beckham should benefit from the return of the Tigers’ top two wideouts, T.J. Moe and Marcus Lucas.
There’s a lot riding on Green-Beckham's freshman season.
“He has an unbelievable burden because Missouri’s going to the SEC and they need to make a big splash,” Newberg said. “If he comes in and makes an impact, it’s going to do wonders for Missouri making the transition and also in terms of recruiting, because kids want to play with great players. He’s a kid who could line up for anybody -- that’s why he was rated where he was. He can make a big impact, even in the SEC. It just depends when the light bulb goes on.”
How will Missouri use him?
“He can be a phenomenal red-zone guy -- a guy they go to on third down,” Newberg said. “I’ve always thought he’s going to be more of an intermediate guy, as his top-end speed is good, not elite. His strengths are his size and his hands.”
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